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Monday, May 16, 2011

the family (minus the brother) came over for lunch yesterday and for dessert, instead of baking the normal chocolate cake, i decided to go for something different. lo and behold! my first ever any kind of tart, that turned out to be a 'tart' because i started the day on the wrong side of the kitchen (read: robot malfunction) and wasn't in the mood to do anything anyways, but, since i woke up with every intention to bake, i cannot disappoint myself. *to hell with the robot!*

so, here, my first ever any kind of tart, called the brownie tart, served with freshly whipped, whipped cream...if you can call it that. i think i might have overbeaten the cream a tad because i found that it had somewhat separated, but tastewise, it was the samelah. only thing i should've stopped when i saw the soft peaks coming out...but, i didn't because i was angry...bla bla bla...lesson learnt, (a) don't whip any kind of cream when angry, (b) don't bake and (c) try to minimise on the anger. haha...!!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

wow! that was one mouthful of a title. BUT! the result is well worth it. a mouthful of bread. *yum* :-) would you like me to break into yet another song for bread? no? you want the old one? yes? no? aiyer!

aneeways...waaaay, waaaay before i discovered bread baking recipe books...i know, where have i been living for the past few thousand years, kan? i always go online for my recipes and this particular websiteis one of my favorite sites. why? well, because it gives a step by step ( ♫ ♬ ♪ ♩ ♭ ♪ oooh baby ♫ ♬ ♪ ♩ ♭ ♪...if you were born in the 70s and you went to school in the 80s then you know which song i'm referring to. if you were not, then....i think they might have the song here (OMG! they do! they do!!!! well, what are you waiting for, click on the link already!!)﻿ :-)

eh, wait a minute, this is an entry about bread, kan? but then again this is NOT a food blog, so i can make an entry about just any topic, right? okaylah, okaylah...back to the topic at hand. i tried this recipe, although it takes quite a lot of preparation, i feel that it was well worth it because i guarantee you will end up with the bestest loaf of cinnamon raisin oatmeal bread. betullll!!

the how to:1) at least half an hour before you begin, soak the raisins in warm water.

2) next, soak the oats in 2½ cups of water for 20-30 minutes.

3) if you are using active dry yeast, instead of instant ones, hold ½ cup of water to proof the yeast in.

4) mix the flours, yeast, milk, honey, oil, salt and cinnamon into the oats. mix well until all of the flour is hydrated. knead by hand for 5 minutes, or if you're using a standmixer, knead for 3.

5) knead or mix until the raisins are distributed throughout the dough. (i mixed by hand, because i was afraid that my mixer would pulverise the raisins. warning: it could get a bit squishy and messy and a bit yucky, if you're squirmish about this, then just use the mixer.)

6) cover the bowl of dough and let it rise for about an hour. then, remove the dough from the bowl and fold it, degassing it gently as you do. (you can watch the whole process here.)

7) once done, place it back into the bowl, cover it and allow it to rise again in bulk for about an hour.

8) after that, divide the dough into three and shape the loaves. and place each loaf into a greased bread pan.

9) cover the pans and set them aside to rise, until they crest above the edge of the pan, roughly about 90 minutes, or shorter if it's a warm day.

10) preheat the oven to 230°C. place the loaves on the center rack of the oven. after 5 minutes, reduce the tempreture to 190°C. rotate the loaves 180 degrees after 20 minutes and bake for another 15-25 minutes. when the top of the loaves are brown and the bottom gives out a hollow sound when you tap them, then your bread is done!

11) you can either wait for the loaves to cool (come on...after waiting THAT long...i don't think you should wait any longer, do you? hehehe) before eating them, or just cut them already!!

*phew* i think this is the longest blog entry i've made so far. wow!

**although according to the site this recipe will get you three loaves, i only got two. i think it depends on the size of your loaf pan.

you did, didn't you? you clicked on the youtube link, right? hehehe... ;-P

Monday, May 09, 2011

today, i share with you the recipe for ayam padprik. this is a thai recipe. i've cooked this dish before using various other recipes i found on the internet. this particular recipe, i took from this book. the verdict? well, to me it was just okay...as for the roomie, he prefers the ones that i made from other recipes. this one, for him is a no-go. but then again, it is all a matter of taste, right? maybe you guys can give it a go and lemme know, yes?

Friday, May 06, 2011

if you know me, then you will know how much i love bread. la la la la laaaaa! haha! today, i would like to share with you guys, the recipe that changed and started everything for me. before i tried this one out, i was always intimidated with everything concerning bread. the yeast, the kneading, the proofing...everythinglah! one day, i found this site, allrecipes.com and out of curiousity searched for the most rated easiest bread recipe. (that's how afraid i was with bread making).

anyhoo, i found this recipe called the unbelievable rolls...and the rest, as how the famous saying goes, is history!

﻿

*ehem* please excuse the irregular size (first time maaah) of the rolls and also the photo quality...this was taken in 2007, i think...waaaay before i had any interest in photography.

i think everyone who has had any kind of reservation about making bread, should at least give this recipe a try...because i guarantee that your opinion will change and bread making will take a whole new meaning for you.

nak recipe tak? okay, here it is:

ingredients:

180ml milk

180ml water

100g white sugar

6g salt, about 1 tsp

2 eggs

20g active dry yeast, 5 tsp

625g all purpose flour

110g margarine

the how to:

1) in a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm the milk, water, sugar and salt. remove from heat and mix in the eggs and the yeast.

2) measure flour into a large bowl. make a well into the flour and pour the milk mixture into it. do not stir. cover with a lid and let it stand for 20-30 minutes.

Thursday, May 05, 2011

dah nak raya dah ke? hehehehe...well, it's been a long time since i've put up something sweet here, kan? well, here it is...the triple chocolate cookies. if you love, love, LOVE chocolate, then, this is the one for you. i took the recipe from this '500 series' bookaaaand as usual, it will never fail. :-) happy, happy, happy joy!!!

3) beat butter and sugar until smooth and creamy and bet in the egg and vanilla essence.

4) add the flour mixture and mix until almost blended.

5) add the chocolate chips and mix - i do this manually.

6) scoop the dough onto a baking sheet 5cm (2 in) apart.

7) bake for 12 to 14 minutes, longer if you want the cookies to be crunchy.

8) transfer to a wire rack to cool and it can be stored in an airtight container for five to seven days.

~this recipe yields about 3 dozen cookies, and of course it also depends on the size.

*if you are preparing the dough ahead, roll the dough into a log 4cm (1½ in) thick, wrap in foil and refrigerate for two hours. before baking, cut the log into 6mm (¼ in) slices and place the slices 4cm (1½ in) apart on a non-stick baking sheet.

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

let's go back to where it all begins. this i-want-to-try-out-all-recipes-from-this-book frenzy. it's been quite a while since i last tried anything from this book, so, i guess it's only fair that i go back to it. yelah, takkan nak jadi kacang lupakan kulit pulowk ye dok? hehehe...

okay, okay, i know it is called daging sos tiram or beef in oyster sauce. you must be wondering why, is it sooooo black, yes? i think i must've overdone it a tad in the thick soy sauce department. my bad. but, the taste is reaaaaaallllyyyyy dandy. i like!

Monday, May 02, 2011

to﻿day we travel to perak. malaysia's second largest state. since i didn't do too *ehem* dandy on geography when i was in school, you can always read about perak here.

my cooking mojo is still lost somewhere out there, but, i still need to cook for the roomate, so i decided to try a recipe from perak, taken from this book.

the dish is called ayam bercili masak ketumbar...losely translated as spicy chicken with coriander? yes? anyone out there can help me with this? yes? no? yes?? thanks. :-)

﻿

here's what you need to prepare this dish.

ingredients:

﻿½kg chicken

some turmeric powder

6 shallots, pounded finely

3 cloves garlic, also pounded to a pulp

some ginger, pound

4 tsp* coriander seed, i didn't have that much chicken so i used only 2 tsp

1 tsp fennel seed, you can grind these two together

4 tbs** blended chilli

2 tamarind peel

salt and sugar to taste

cooking oil

the how to:

1) coat the chicken with some turmeric powder and salt, fry till golden brown. set aside.

2) take away most of the oil from the wok but leave some so that it can be used to saute the pounded items.

3) next in goes the blended chilli. fry till done - when the oil reappears in the wok, it is done.

4) you can now add in the ground coriander and fennel seeds. if the mixture looks a bit thick, you can add in water. (please use middle to low heat)

5) put in the tamarind peel, some salt and sugar.

6) in goes the chicken and mix them evenly.

7) once that is done, the dish is ready to be served!

~ i had to add in some tamarind juice to the mixture because i feel that it lacked the 'kick'.

taste wise, i think normal sambal chicken would taste better, but in the name of experimenting, i prepared this dish. so, that's one recipe yang tak berapa 'jadi' for the Perak book. but then again, who knows, maybe some people like their chicken to be cooked this way, right? oh well...

*(the recipe book did not indicate whether it's tsp or tbs, so i decided to use tsp instead)

** (once again, no indication as to a tbs or a tsp is required, so i made the decision to use tbs instead.)

if you guys do decide to try this, lemme know how it turns out for you, okay?